Seasoft Software | The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions 1

Seasoft Software | 36 Thurber Blvd. | Smithfield, Rhode Island 02917 | 800.422.4782 | caisoft.com/seasoft

Seasoft Software | The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions 2

The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions

Table of Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions: The Business Case and ROI ........................................................................ 4

New Way to Manage Deliveries: How It Works ................................................................................................................................. 4

Real-time Route Optimization ................................................................................................................................................................. 5

Cost-effective GPS Truck Tracking .......................................................................................................................................................... 5

Reduced Forms and Fewer Customer Disputes ................................................................................................................................. 6

Convenient Activity-based Costing ........................................................................................................................................................ 6

Compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations ......................................................................................................... 6

Seasoft Mobile Fleet Manager Overview ............................................................................................................................................. 7

MFM: Key User Benefits .............................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Summary .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

© 2017 Computer Associates

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying,

recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission Computer Associates.

Seasoft Software | The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions 3

The Business Case for Advanced (Cloud-based) Dispatch Management Solutions

A Seasoft Whitepaper

Introduction

Improving business process efficiencies is often at the top of a seafood distributors’ priority list for reducing costs and

maximizing bottom line profitability. From optimizing inventory levels, to creating better internal processes, to improving

supplier/third party relationships, there are many methods that can help.

With warehousing and transportation representing the highest costs on the logistics curve, and because their level of

performance immediately impacts customers, these areas of the business are often primary focal points for improving

operational excellence. What’s more, a study from AAA1 found that despite the cost of fuel being down 25 percent

compared to 2015, costs related to insurance, depreciation, and maintenance are all on the rise this year. As a result,

more and more seafood businesses are looking at ways to lower costs by streamlining their distribution and delivery

processes.

Compounding the issue are customer expectations. Simply put, customers want

what they want, when they want it, at the agreed-upon price. Distributors who can

dependably meet these expectations and deliver product in a timely manner

improve their market share, but those who do not often find themselves struggling

to compete.

The new breed of real-time, cloud-based dispatch management solutions comes at

a perfect time. Via seamless integration with your ERP or business management

software and order entry system, these solutions optimize truck routing,

management and tracking.

No matter how you do business, or what your routes look like, implementing an

advanced dispatch and delivery solution can literally transform your dispatch and delivery operations into an automated

and integrated traffic control center, increasing the productivity for your dispatchers and drivers, maximizing customer

service and significantly reducing vehicle maintenance and fuel expenses.

In addition, these advanced systems let you accurately pinpoint delivery costs. With an advanced dispatch and delivery

solution, you know the cost per mile of each truck and cost per hour of each driver. No more guessing about true delivery

costs and how those costs affect profitability on a customer-by-customer basis.

1. Source: www.newsroom.aaa.com/auto/your-driving-costs/

Seasoft Software | The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions 4

Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions: The Business Case and ROI

Before making the investment in these types of advanced technologies, it’s

important for a seafood distributor to first determine whether the costs associated

with inefficient deliveries (and upset customers!) warrants the investment.

Regardless of the number of vehicles in your fleet, it’s a pretty safe bet that the

answer will be resoundingly in the affirmative.

Here are some real-life ROI examples from businesses, who on average

experienced a 15% increase in efficiencies and a 15% decrease in fuel costs using a

cloud-based dispatch management solution:

15% in driver expenses through accountability and optimized routes. Company was able to reduce their driver

position count by 12 – a 10% reduction in driver positions!

19% decrease in cost spent on route deliveries after four months.

50% reduction in average time spent at customer delivering product with 16% more product delivered to

customers after four months of using the system.

Client experienced considerable route mileage efficiency after only nine months, including a 50% improvement in

total miles on routes in just one location!

Client experienced considerable mileage and cost savings after 6 months: 12.30% Mileage efficiency gained, or

$4,065 per month in savings.

New Way to Manage Deliveries: How It Works

1. Invoices are fed into the cloud-based Dispatch Management Solution and sent directly into scheduled runs, sent

to a delivery queue, or are ready to be put in an optimized route sequence and dispatched.

2. Dispatchers create and manage routes and assign drivers for delivery.

3. Routes are dispatched to the drivers’ phone or tablet with turn-by-turn directions to the customer address. Drivers

know where to go and in what order.

4. While on the road, drivers are monitored and tracked via GPS on their mobile device (i.e., smartphones or tablets)

so you know exactly where they are at all times.

5. Customers can log in 24/7 to find out when the driver is expected.

6. When driver arrives, barcodes are scanned and the customer’s signature and an image of the delivered product is

captured on the mobile device. No more paper invoices to lose!

7. Back at the warehouse, you can pull up reports to see how many miles were driven on each route and how much

revenue was generated from each delivery.

Seasoft Software | The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions 5

Real-time Route Optimization

In Beverage Industry Magazine’s Fleet Survey2, roughly two-thirds of the respondents cited route optimization as their top

strategy for controlling fuel costs. Some long-term decisions, such as equipment acquisition, can have a lasting effect on

the bottom line, but these areas tend to deliver only incremental results. The biggest opportunity for a fleet manager to

contribute to the bottom line is by optimizing dispatch and delivery operations with the most efficient delivery routes and

utilizing load configurations that eliminate miles altogether.

This type of real-time routing solution makes it very easy to get your drivers dispatched, and out on the road, with

optimized route sequences and manifests sent right to their mobile devices. Routes can be optimized based on each

customer's location and actual orders for the day—usually with the click of a button. Traditionally, businesses spent hours

laying out tickets on a big table or large whiteboard trying to figure out stop sequences, juggling when restaurants were

open, for day's orders and the route. All that work can now be accomplished much more efficiently.

Cost-effective GPS Vehicle Tracking

Another characteristic of cloud-based dispatch and delivery solutions is real-time

GPS tracking and wireless communication between drivers and dispatchers.

Dispatchers can see on a map every move their drivers make and identify

unauthorized use of vehicles. Because the GPS chips used in mobile devices are

the exact same chips found in traditional in-vehicle GPS units, these devices

typically provide the same accuracy, at a much lower cost.

Another major advantage is visibility to the order status once the driver leaves the warehouse. In the past, dispatchers

would have to first determine which driver had the order and then call the driver tying up two employees for ten minutes

and making the customer wait. Now in about 15 seconds, businesses can view order status, real-time ETA, signatures and

even pictures of the delivery after the delivery happens.

Seafood distributors that adopt cloud-based dispatch management solutions also have a better understanding of the

expected time and mileage that route should take as opposed to what it actually took. Before these types of solutions,

drivers would arrive back in at 4:55 PM even if the route should have had them back at 2:00 PM. With these new solutions,

dispatchers now have an expectation of how long that trip should take as well as the expected unload time to measure

how long the driver spends at the customer.

2. Source: Tom Kelly, www.bevindustry.com, March 2016

Seasoft Software | The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions 6

Reduced Forms and Fewer Customer Disputes

These advanced dispatch and delivery solutions usually offer both electronic signature and proof of delivery image

capture so you know immediately what was delivered (and when) as well as who signed for it at the customer site.

Whether scanning, capturing signatures, or communicating with dispatch, the new generation of logistics solutions is

designed to empower your drivers to take care of business.

Convenient Activity-based Costing

The best among these new logistics tools enables dispatchers to easily access detailed

delivery-related costs on a customer-by-customer. Real-time visibility of each invoice

along with its associates revenue, order cost, estimated delivery cost, gross margin,

net margin and other information is instrumental in maximizing profits..

Compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations

Most industries and businesses are affected by one or more of the U.S. Department of

Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations. The American Transportation Research

Institute (ATRI), the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research institute, recently unveiled its top industry issues report,

which includes the list of the top ten critical issues facing the North American trucking industry3.

The implementation date of the FMCSA’s recently published final Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) rule — or ELD mandate

topped the list of trucking industry concerns, with more than 65 percent of respondents concerned about productivity

impacts the industry may experience from full deployment of ELDs. An ELD is used to electronically record a driver’s

Record of Duty Status (RODS), driver behavior reporting on speeding, idling, and hard braking, Driver Vehicle Inspection

Reports (DVIR) and their compliance with Hours of Service (HOS) requirements.

Currently, many fleets also utilize automatic on-board recording devices (AOBRDs) to record a driver’s duty status as well

as the amount of time they operate the vehicle. If requested by law enforcement, drivers must immediately present the

required AOBRD display information for the previous seven days, plus the current day.

It should be noted that in the ATRI’s report, while the anticipated impact on the industry has been generally negative,

carriers do foresee some benefits as a result of ELD utilization. These benefits include improved monitoring (33 percent);

better driver and equipment utilization (21 percent); driver convenience (10 percent); reduced operating costs (two

percent); fuel savings (two percent); and other (32 percent).

3. Source: www.foodlogistics.com and the American Transportation Research Institute

Seasoft Software | The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions 7

Cloud-based dispatch management solutions offer full, cost-effective compliance with

the FMCSA ELD mandate without requiring the purchase of Electronic Logging Devices

(ELDs). Instead, these advanced systems utilize smartphones and tablet PCs to meet the

federal requirements. You get all of the electronic logs required by the new FMCSA

mandate for fuel tax reporting in a single solution that covers Telematics, Federal

Compliance, Dispatch and Vehicle Maintenance.

Seasoft Mobile Fleet Manager Overview

The Seasoft Mobile Fleet Manager leverages these advanced technologies in an easy-

to-use dispatch and delivery solution that helps seafood distributors improve customer

service, increase the productivity of their dispatchers and drivers, and lower vehicle and

fuel expenses.

Integrated within the Seasoft Seafood Processing and

Distribution Software, and powered by the Elite EXTRA's cloud-

based dispatch management solution, Mobile Fleet Manager

optimizes truck routing, management and tracking to make

dispatching more efficient. The solution can transform dispatch

and delivery operations into proactive, automated Customer

Service and Traffic Control Centers, getting drivers on the road

with optimized route sequences, manifests sent right to their

tablet or smartphone, real-time GPS tracking, and image-based

proof of delivery.

Seasoft Mobile Fleet Manager is offered as Software-as-a-Service

(SaaS), meaning you can utilize this cloud-based dispatch and

delivery management technology without having to install

expensive servers or hardware, and there are no licenses to

purchase.

Once your daily orders are entered into Seasoft, Mobile Fleet

Manager optimizes the routes and dispatches drivers with hotshot

runs or sends the manifest to customize scheduled runs/zones, or

a combination of both.

Seasoft Software | The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions 8

MFM: Key User Benefits

Seasoft Mobile Fleet Manager provides a range of capabilities that ensure your dispatchers and drivers are operating at

peak efficiency and customers are receiving top-notch service:

Route Sequence

Optimization

Optimized routes are efficient routes. Fewer dispatchers needed. More product is delivered

with fewer drivers and routes are easily changed and orders added.

Real-time GPS Tracking With Mobile Fleet Manager, drivers and product are tracked through GPS chip in mobile

devices (smartphones or tablets). This cost-effective solution provides greater

accountability, fewer unauthorized stops, fewer calls between customer and dispatchers

and highly accurate geofencing, to within feet.

Route Management Mobile Fleet Manager’s route optimization organizes your manifests into the most efficient

routes possible, while still allowing for changes to be made. You can change routes

dynamically to minimize delays and maximize service.

Real-Time ETAs Mobile Fleet Manager’s easy-to-use web portal is constantly updated with new delivery

times. Customers can better plan their days and work smarter to increase profits.

Image-based POD &

e-Signature Capture

Drivers can easily record what was delivered and who signed for it with their tablet or

smartphone. POD signatures are also transmitted to Mobile Fleet Manager’s Admin Order

Grid for future use.

Complete Visibility With Mobile Fleet Manager you know where your product and drivers are at all times. Once

dispatched, you get real-time visibility of your delivery resources including where your

drivers are, where they’ve been, where they’re going, and real-time ETAs to your customers.

Unparalleled Mobile

Functionality

Mobile Fleet Manager’s Driver app is free and easy to use, and contains everything your

driver (and the warehouse!) may need: in-app messaging, delay reporting, signature

capture, COD tracking, among many other features.

Business Intelligence

Robust reporting—exception, profitability, and driver—is right at your fingertips: either

scheduled and sent to your inbox on an interval, or promptly pulled on the fly. Further,

learn which drivers and routes perform well and which ones don’t—through our new

Manager’s Scorecards.

Seasoft Software | The Business Case for Cloud-based Dispatch Management Solutions 9

Seasoft Seafood Software

36 Thurber Blvd. Smithfield, RI 02917

800.422.4782 caisoft.com/seasoft

Summary

In almost every business, in almost every industry, the deployment of a cloud-based dispatch and delivery solution can

have a major, positive impact on a company’s customer service program and bottom-line profitability. The new breed of

logistics solutions, like the Seasoft Mobile Fleet Manager are extremely cost-effective. There are no servers to buy or

maintain, no client software to install on local PCs, and no IT Staff needed to maintain the database, backup and install

files.

In addition, these solutions offer a strong, demonstrable ROI. You have an expensive investment in your fleet and

personnel. The typical delivery vehicle ranges from between $300 - $500 per day to operate, including likely $3 to $5 per

mile. An investment in a dispatch and delivery solution can be as low as $4 per day to manage a resource that your

customer service reputation depends on.

For more information, visit www.caisoft.com/seasoft or contact Jim Levy at 800.422.4782.